The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) invites applications for an Open Rank Professor position (Assistant, Associate, or Full rank) in the area of American Indian and Indigenous Studies, to be located in a department in the Division of Mathematics, Life, and Physical Sciences (MLPS). We invite applications in any of the following fields and areas of expertise, including but not limited to: geography, environmental studies, statistics and applied probability, earth sciences, biology, marine science, ecology, botany, traditional ecological knowledges, natural resource management, data sovereignty, and Indigenous sciences (oceanography, astronomy, physics, navigation), ecology and Indigenous engineering, psychology, social psychology, neuroscience, public health, arctic studies, or other relevant fields. We also invite applicants from institutions that engage in scholarly research and advancement of the field of indigenous studies. While the appointment is expected to be in a department in MLPS, a joint or cross-divisional appointment can be considered.
This position is part of a coordinated recruitment of scholars in the three divisions of the College of Letters and Science: Humanities and Fine Art, Social Sciences, and Math, Life, and Physical Sciences. It builds upon a substantial and dynamic cadre of recently appointed early career faculty across the divisions and disciplines meant to expand and strengthen American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) at UCSB. This expansion is the result of a core group of faculty and community members (known collectively as the American Indian and Indigenous Collective) who devoted many years to program building in this area.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities of faculty members generally include the development of an actively funded research program of the highest quality, teaching at undergraduate and/or graduate levels, recruitment, supervision and mentorship of graduate students, and participation in university service and professional activities. Successful candidates will have a record that demonstrates their potential to advance and build the national profile of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) program on campus. This includes working with interdisciplinary and inter-divisional faculty and students, as well as with community members to promote and sustain an innovative and intellectually expansive community for American Indian and Indigenous-centered research, curriculum, and initiatives at UCSB. We are seeking a candidate who values working collaboratively towards community building and has the leadership skills and experiences to help develop AIIS at UCSB. The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching and service as appropriate to the position. This position is open until filled.
Background on American Indian and Indigenous Institutional History
The AIIC (American Indian and Indigenous Collective) continues the vision initiated by generations of student organizing, student-driven research and community building at UCSB. UCSB's American Indian and Indigenous Student Association (AIISA) was founded over fifty years ago, just 25 years after the university itself. The American Indian and Indigenous Studies Minor was instituted 20 years ago, and 12 years ago American Indian and Indigenous graduate students initiated and founded the AIIC (American Indian and Indigenous Collective) Research Focus Group (RFG). Under the aegis of an AIIC umbrella, initiatives and programs serving UCSB and Native and Indigenous communities at large were sustained and developed. These include STANDS (Students Taking Action for Native Dreams and Success), a student-initiated college outreach program focused on junior high and high school American Indian and Indigenous students. Also, an American Indian and Indigenous Gardens Alliance was established in consultation and collaboration with local Indigenous Chumash community members and UCSB Native students in 2015 and continues today.
Acknowledgements and Commitments
The AIIC Academic Council and its members acknowledge the traditional custodians of these lands and waters and are committed to working collaboratively with tribes, bands, councils, committees, and families among the local Chumash Peoples and other Native and Indigenous Peoples of lands currently known as the Americas and beyond.
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